It is known in the art to fill containers with flowable food products and then seal those products with a removable lid. Common examples of such containers are the plastic single-serving margarine containers popular at restaurants. Such containers have a lid that may be easily removed by hand. The containers are typically sealed using a single lid, with a tab extending from that lid on one side of the container. To remove the lid from such containers, the consumer grasps one of the tabs with one hand while holding the container in the other hand. The consumer then peels the lid away from the container by pulling the tab back across the top of the container. The consumer may then discard the lid and pour or otherwise remove the desired product from the container.
Various methods and machines for the lidding of such containers are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,855 to Smith et al. is one example. Smith '855 discloses a machine for packaging an edible liquid in round, single-serving containers. A ribbon or "daisy chain" of lids is fed into the Smith '855 lidding machine and sealed onto containers passing below. The containers are moved along through the lidding machine upon a chain of platens. The individual lids are separated from each other using straight blades that extend from a cut-off wheel. Because straight blades are used for trimming, the lids are not trimmed closely against the rounded edges of the containers. The containers resulting from this lidding process thus have tabs extending on either side that the consumer may grasp to open the container and reach the edible liquid inside.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,412 to Sengewald discloses a process and apparatus for forming packages from a thermoplastic material. The packages have a projecting flange edge, which connects the packages to those formed adjacent to it. After product is placed within the package, a thermoplastic sheet is attached over the flange edge to seal the packages and protect the product inside. The packages are separated from one another along weakening lines formed at the edges of the projecting flange edge of each package. After separation, each package has a tab extending from one corner so that the user may easily grasp the covering sheet and remove it to reach the product inside.
Each of these prior art devices leaves a tab extending from the package. Using a conventional lid, a tab is necessary since the consumer must grasp the tab to remove the lid and reach the product inside. These tabs may present a safety hazard, however, because they typically have rough or sharp edges. These sharp edges are a natural result of the lidding process since the tabs are typically the point from which the lidding material or container was cut away from other lids, containers, or flashing. If the containers were cut apart with a knife, the edges formed on the tabs may well be sharp enough to cut the consumer who opens the container if care is not taken.
Moreover, the sharp edges along tabs extending from the containers can cause damage to other containers in the same shipping carton. Typically such containers are tossed into a carton for shipping without careful stacking. Because of cost concerns, such cartons do not contain padding, dividers, or other protective materials between the individual packages. As the contents of the carton are jostled during shipping, the sharp edges of the container tabs may pierce the lidding of adjacent containers, thereby causing loss of product or spoilage before the product reaches the consumer.
In addition, tabs extending from the containers reduce the aesthetic appearance of the product packaging for consumers. Thus tabs may make the product less marketable than a product packaged in a container that has no tabs extending out from the package.